I Took The Road Less Traveled By
by Magic of Impact
Summary: A short, one shot fic about TK and Kari. TK is having feelings for his childhood friend. How will she respond? Takari (kind of)


All I own is the plot. Flames will be mocked with extreme prejudice.  
  
Constructive criticism is always welcome. I hope you enjoy reading this.  
  
This is a very recent repost. I discovered today that Word Documents  
  
should not be uploaded to ff.net. I rewrote this in a pure text editor  
  
(Edit) and I am hoping that it looks a little better now.  
  
I Took The Road Less Traveled By  
  
Takeru Takaishi looked deeply into the beautiful, chocolate brown  
  
eyes of Hikari Kamiya. She gazed back, blushing slightly. A warm, pleasant,  
  
but constricting pressure on his chest caused his breathing to be hindered  
  
somewhat as he leaned forward and placed his lips gently against hers. She  
  
returned the pressure, and soon they were both wrapped up in ignorant bliss,  
  
unaware of any of their surroundings.  
  
Slowly and as one they staggered over to the couch and sat, contacting  
  
each other in every way they could. Their kissing became more and more  
  
feverish as they explored each other in ways they never thought about before.  
  
Suddenly he became aware that he was on top of her, with his hands clutching  
  
both her wrists above her head. She was breathing in short, ragged gasps and  
  
slowly relaxed her body so that she sunk further into the soft couch.  
  
TK had been waiting for this moment for the last  
  
four years of his life. Slowly, carefully he lowered himself onto her and  
  
let the night take him where it may.  
  
**********  
  
Beep...Beep...Beep...  
  
The alarm clock was ringing. TK sat bolt upright, his face and body  
  
dripping with sweat as his mind lingered on the dream which had recurred so  
  
often now, and which he so desperately craved to be reality.  
  
Pushing a wave of his blond hair out of his face, he closed his blue  
  
eyes again and carefully imagined the perfect face of the girl that he cared  
  
for more than anything else in the world. Kari. His best friend. They had  
  
known each other since they were eight years old, and been best friends since  
  
the moment they met. He loved everything about the brown haired, brown eyed  
  
girl, from the way that she could make him laugh in the most desperate of  
  
situations, right down to the way her eyes sparked when she was angry.  
  
A sudden slight shift in the air took away the little body heat that  
  
still hovered just over his bare arms and chest, and with a shiver he was  
  
brought back to reality. He glanced at the clock; half hoping that he had  
  
mistakenly set his alarm several hours early. This dream, while fulfilling,  
  
was hardly restful.  
  
He groaned, realizing that he was five minutes late due to his little  
  
daydream, and hopped out of bed. He cast his eyes around the room, looking  
  
for something to wear that wasn't too dirty or smelly. Most of his clothes  
  
were scattered about the floor, and he quickly scooped up a pair of pants and  
  
a shirt that he knew he had only worn once since they were last washed, and  
  
jammed them on.  
  
He went through his morning checklist. Breakfast? No, he would buy  
  
something at lunch. Shower? No, he took one every day after basketball  
  
practice anyway. School Bag? The homework he had wasn't due for another few  
  
days, and he hadn't even touched his backpack the previous day after getting  
  
home. Hair? He generally wore it messy anyway, so no one would notice that  
  
is wasn't combed.  
  
Satisfied, he finished dressing, grabbed his stuff, and bolted out the  
  
door. He was grateful that his mom was away for a couple of days...she would  
  
have definitely tried to waylay him and chide him for not having breakfast and  
  
going out with his hair in "that condition".  
  
His mind turned briefly to his older brother Matt and his father who  
  
lived on the other side of town. Matt was the one who had once told him:  
  
"Yeah, I never get much done in the morning. I like to sleep until the last  
  
possible minute." He smiled at just how much he was becoming like his brother,  
  
and hurried on.  
  
TK arrived at school with only seconds to spare. He had just sat down  
  
in his History class when the bell rang and the teacher called roll. Stifling  
  
an urge to yawn, he rested his elbows on the desk and placed his head in his  
  
hands. His mind, now relaxing once again, focused back onto the face of his  
  
crush.  
  
TK closed his eyes, and lifted and shook his head violently. It was  
  
going to be another one of those days. Every time he had the dream he always  
  
spent the rest of that day in a kind of longing, painful trance, unable to  
  
focus on reality, and unable to truly live. He felt trapped within his own  
  
mind, wanting so desperately to escape, yet wanting so fervently to be trapped  
  
there forever.  
  
"Hikari Kamiya" the teacher called. There was no response. TK looked  
  
around. One seat back, two to the left. That was where she always sat. It  
  
was empty. A curiosity welled up within him, where was she? Kari never  
  
missed class, was never late. No one else, however, thought much of it. The  
  
teacher continued reading off the names. He reached the end, and put the list  
  
away.  
  
"Well then," he started, "to continue where we left off yesterday. As  
  
you will remember the..."  
  
The door in the back of the class banged open. In came a very  
  
flustered Kari, looking slightly frazzled and turning a light shade of red.  
  
"Sorry I'm late" she gasped, quickly getting to her seat and getting  
  
out her notes.  
  
The teacher smiled. "Nice of you to join us Miss Kamiya. Do you mind  
  
explaining your tardiness?" A smile was fully formed on his face now. He  
  
loved teasing his students, but he rarely disciplined them unless they were  
  
actually being disruptive.  
  
"I...um...overslept" said Kari, blushing a little bit more now.  
  
"I see." said the teacher. "Well, as long as you're well-rested, I  
  
don't think there is any reason to mark you tardy this time. Just don't make  
  
a habit of it."  
  
He turned back to the whiteboard and continued his lecture. TK looked  
  
back at her and grinned. She gave him an embarrassed sort of smile and  
  
quickly looked away and began taking notes. The rest of the period passed  
  
without interest, and when the bell rang the students all filed out into the  
  
halls.  
  
He met up with her outside of the classroom and walked a ways with her.  
  
"So," he said, "the infamous Kari has finally become a mere mortal like the  
  
rest of us?  
  
"Very funny" she snapped at him, though her eyes were not angry. "I  
  
just had a busy night last night."  
  
"What happened?" he asked, seeing a slightly troubled look steal  
  
across her.  
  
"Jordan called."  
  
The effect of these two simple words on TK was profound. Though he  
  
hid it well from Kari, he had always hated the fact that Jordan had gotten to  
  
her before him. Jordan had been her boyfriend for several months now, and  
  
though TK knew that he wasn't a bad guy or anything, he still felt that Jordan  
  
should have stayed his distance.  
  
"Anything wrong?" he asked, trying to discern whether the call had  
  
been good or bad.  
  
"I don't know" she mumbled, "He wanted to talk to me after school  
  
today. He said that he didn't want to say this over the phone.  
  
TK put on a smile. "Well, usually something like that means it's good  
  
right?" he asked, trying to ignore the gaping emptiness that was filling his  
  
chest. "Anyway Kari, you know that if you ever have a problem you can always  
  
come to me, you know?"  
  
His heart melted as she smiled up at him. "I know TK, thank you."  
  
She reached forward and gave him a quick hug around the middle, and departed  
  
for her next class. TK stood rooted to the spot for a minute as he watched  
  
her hurry away. Then, coming to his senses, he went to his locker and grabbed  
  
his books.  
  
Sadly, today he would not see her again. She was not in any of his  
  
other classes today, and he had basketball practice while she had photography  
  
club. Also, that meeting with Jordan was likely to keep her late into the  
  
evening.  
  
His next class, English, came and went. It was lunchtime now, two of  
  
his three classes for the day were over, and he was extremely hungry. He  
  
bought his lunch (assuming that like they told him, it was indeed food) and  
  
sat down with a couple of his basketball teammates to eat.  
  
"Hey TK." His friend Nathan was talking to him. Nathan was a junior,  
  
a year ahead of him. Most of TK's immediate friends were older than him.  
  
Starting back when he was eight, he had always hung around his older brother's  
  
friends, and now he was the only sophomore on the varsity team.  
  
"Yeah?" TK responded.  
  
"I just found out that we have a substitute coach today. Coach  
  
Ketshaw came down with something."  
  
TK groaned audibly. Substitute coaches always seemed to think that he  
  
needed to prove to them that he had really earned his spot on the team, and  
  
they worked him extra hard to see if he had. He pulled himself together. "I  
  
guess I'll sleep really well tonight,? he lamented, shoving another sporkful  
  
of the unidentified substance into his mouth. The others laughed and slapped  
  
him on the back.  
  
All too soon the rest of the day was over. His last period (Geometry)  
  
he had all but tuned out, this time focusing not on Kari, but on his impending  
  
practice. He complained loudly to himself as he trudged down to the gym.  
  
"Why does my life have to be like this? I sure didn't ask for any of these  
  
things to happen."  
  
As expected, the coach put TK through his paces. He ended up having  
  
to do twice the warm-up exercises that everyone else did, making him exhausted  
  
before he even began the real practice. The only thing that kept him going  
  
were his friends on the court giving him a word of encouragement here and  
  
there. They too had experienced excessively enthusiastic coaches before and  
  
knew what he was going through.  
  
Finally, the two-hour practice ended. Soaked with sweat from head to  
  
toe and feeling that nearly all life had left his body, he stumbled home. He  
  
yawned widely as he opened his front door, discarding his backpack at the  
  
entrance. Too tired to even think, he collapsed on the living room couch and  
  
fell fast asleep.  
  
No dreams visited him this time, at least none he could remember. The  
  
next thing he knew, he was wide-awake and lying in a slightly uncomfortable  
  
position on the couch. He glanced at the ornate clock on the mantelpiece.  
  
8:47. He had slept for almost five hours.  
  
Breathing in deeply, he coughed and sneezed simultaneously. He  
  
smelled horrible. He had forgotten to take a shower when he got home. Going  
  
to his room, he stripped of his clothes and grabbed a towel. He felt fully  
  
awake now; he knew he wouldn't get to sleep until at least one or two in the  
  
morning.  
  
Thinking about what he was going to do in the meantime, he clambered  
  
into the shower and turned on the hot water full blast. Twenty minutes later  
  
he emerged smelling, in his opinion, a whole lot better.  
  
He re-entered his room and opened his dresser. He pulled out the only  
  
two things left that were clean. A pair of shorts and a tank top. "I may as  
  
well do something productive today" he muttered as he gathered up armfuls of  
  
his laundry and dumped them into the washer down the hall. "I guess it  
  
wouldn't hurt for my room to smell a little better either."  
  
It was quite cool out, but in the interest of getting a little fresh  
  
air, he opened his window and turned on a fan. In a few hours, most traces of  
  
smell would have vanished. He left his room and closed the door behind him.  
  
No sense in making the rest of the house cold as well.  
  
Feeling better now than he had all day, he went to the kitchen to look  
  
for something to eat. He finally came across some old TV dinners and popped  
  
three of them into the oven. Normally he would have decided on a little less,  
  
but his unsatisfactory lunch coupled with the absence of breakfast and his  
  
exhausting practice made him feel much more than a little hungry.  
  
He went back to the living room and prepared to turn on the TV when he  
  
heard a knock on the door. Surprised, he wondered to himself who could be  
  
coming over at this time of night. He went to the door and flung it wide to  
  
reveal...Kari.  
  
It was raining lightly outside, and she had obviously been out for  
  
quite a while. She was soaked all the way through. She might have looked a  
  
little funny to him, with her hair messed up and her clothes hanging off her  
  
at weird angles stiff from the rain, except for her face. One glance wiped  
  
away any humor left in him. Her eyes were pooled with tears and there was a  
  
little mud and grime on one of her cheeks.  
  
She was looking at the ground when he opened the door, but as soon as  
  
she realized that he was there, she flung herself forward and buried her head  
  
in his chest, sobbing.  
  
"Easy Kari, easy." said TK gently, confused beyond measure, "What  
  
happened?"  
  
Her voice was punctuated with sobs as she spoke, her voice muffled by  
  
TK's chest. "H..he...Jordan...he...b..b...roke up..with....m....me..."  
  
This statement was followed by another fresh outbreak of tears and  
  
wailing from the girl in his arms. Only one thought penetrated his mind as he  
  
heard what she said: 'I've got to cheer her up.'  
  
Slowly and quietly he broke their embrace and looked down into her  
  
eyes. "Kari" he said, "you're soaked. Here, follow me; we'll get you warmed  
  
up first. He led her into his mother?s room, first stopping by the hall  
  
closet to grab another towel. Once there where he found some dry clothes that  
  
looked like they would fit her.  
  
"Here," he said, tossing the assorted items onto the bed, "dry off and  
  
change into those and then we'll talk."  
  
She gave him the smallest of smiles as he exited the room and closed  
  
the door behind him. As the door snapped shut, a million wild thoughts and  
  
images raced through his head. "No!" he thought desperately, "No! This  
  
definitely isn't the time. She needs her best friend right now, not someone  
  
else who is after her."  
  
Forcing himself to remain calm, he began slowly pacing the hall, back  
  
and forth, until he heard the door open again. He turned, and found himself  
  
looking at her once again, although this time she was different. He had  
  
always thought of her as being so strong, so sure of herself, but now she  
  
stood there in clothes that were slightly too big for her, and with her hair  
  
very ruffled, she looked once again like the little eight year old girl who  
  
had become his friend.  
  
Once again she came toward him, although now she wrapped herself  
  
around his arm and pulled him toward the living room. Once there they sat  
  
down and a slightly uncomfortable silence fell between them. After about a  
  
minute, TK broke it.  
  
"Do you want to talk about it?"  
  
She shook her head, causing her hair to whip up around her face. 'She  
  
is so beautiful,' he thought, and then he gave himself another mental kick.  
  
"Here," he said, picking up the remote, "let's watch something for a while.  
  
Both her arms still wrapped around his left one, he turned on the TV  
  
and began flipping through channels. After a bit he came to something that  
  
seemed perfect. A documentary on cats. Kittens were possibly Kari's favorite  
  
animals, and he had to admit, he thought they were pretty nice too.  
  
Fifteen minutes passed as they sat in silence, watching the show.  
  
Every couple minutes he looked down at her, curled up next to him, and saw her  
  
eyes shining with happiness. All thoughts of her evening previous to now were  
  
currently wiped away, her mind on the cute and fuzzy creatures on the screen.  
  
Finally she spoke.  
  
"I remember when Meeko was that little," she said quietly, "Tai  
  
thought it would be fun to see if she would enjoy being put on a high shelf."  
  
She giggled a little. "When he finally took her down, she clawed at him until  
  
his hands and arms were all covered with scratches. They stayed away from  
  
each other for a while after that." She giggled again and TK laughed at the  
  
thought of her older brother losing a fight to a kitten.  
  
"Yeah, I remember back before my parents got divorced, Matt found a  
  
stray dog. He wanted to keep it really bad, so my parents let him. It only  
  
lasted three days though, the dog slept in his room, and it peed on all of his  
  
stuff. Matt has never liked animals since, recounted TK, thinking back as  
  
well.  
  
Kari laughed. "Our older brothers don't do very well with animals, do  
  
they?" she asked, looking up at him now.  
  
"No, not really," he replied, feeling a sudden warmth spread through  
  
him as he looked back at her. "Which is really interesting considering that  
  
Matt just started a band with some friends, they call themselves the Teenage  
  
Wolves."  
  
"That is funny," she smiled. "I didn't know he started a band, how  
  
long ago did he do it?"  
  
"Only a couple of months ago." said TK dismissively. "You know, I  
  
kind of wondered why Tai never joined. Matt would definitely let him. They  
  
have been friends even longer than we have."  
  
Kari looked in some surprise at him. "Tai?" she said, suppressing  
  
laugher, "Singing or playing in a band?" The laughter inside of her finally  
  
burst, sending her into a hysterical fit. "Yeah right! Tai is completely  
  
tone deaf! My parents and I have to plug our ears every time he takes a  
  
shower; he sounds like a dying animal!"  
  
They both laughed for a while, eventually starting up the conversation  
  
again. For two hours they talked. Sometimes it was their brothers, sometimes  
  
it was school. They covered the latest fads, revisited old memories, and  
  
finally they got to sports, where TK recounted what had happened to him only  
  
today.  
  
"That's awful!" exclaimed Kari, "Does that really happen whenever  
  
someone new is there?"  
  
"Yeah," said TK, "but on the plus side I definitely get a workout.  
  
That might actually be one of the reasons I stay on varsity, I constantly have  
  
to push myself to prove that I belong there." He paused a second before  
  
continuing. "Anyway, I was so tired when I got home that I fell asleep  
  
without even taking a shower." He grimaced. "I'll never do that again, I  
  
smelled like a fish that had been rotting for days by the time I woke up."  
  
She sniffed his arm playfully. "You don't smell too bad now," she  
  
grinned, "maybe only like a fish rotting for a few hours.? He playfully  
  
pushed her away, and she rolled away from him and suddenly her eyebrows  
  
creased. "Wait a minute, I do smell something bad."  
  
It took TK only a split second to realize it too. "The oven!" he  
  
yelled, and he leapt off the couch and dashed for the kitchen. He tore open  
  
the oven and, grabbing a nearby potholder, he yanked out the previously frozen  
  
dinners. What remained was only a charred mess.  
  
He groaned and slumped against the counter, kicking himself for not  
  
setting a timer. Kari soon followed him in, a questioning glance on her face.  
  
TK chucked the now inedible dinners into the garbage and recounted  
  
what had happened.  
  
"How did you forget?" Kari asked as his face twisted with a mix of  
  
amusement and anger.  
  
"Well," he said, "you came over and I wasn't really paying attention  
  
to anything else."  
  
"Oh," she said, and her face fell.  
  
TK decided that if they were going to get anywhere, now was the time  
  
to do it. "Kari, what happened tonight?" he asked quietly. "Why did Jordan  
  
break up with you?"  
  
Kari's face saddened again. "He just told me that he didn't think our  
  
relationship was going anywhere, she said, dejected. "He told me that he had  
  
found someone else who he cared about more.  
  
TK's insides now burned with anger. 'How dare he be so cold to her!  
  
How dare he...' But Kari had seen the look on his face and stepped toward him  
  
and wrapped her arms around his middle once again. "Don't worry TK," she said,  
  
"I'm all right now. You cheered me up."  
  
Their eyes locked together, and TK saw with a small start that she was  
  
lying. Neither of them were any good at lying to each other, and everything  
  
from the way tears were pooling in the corners of her eyes again to the way  
  
she was clutching her hands together behind his back told him that she was  
  
still keeping herself bottled up.  
  
"Kari" he whispered, placing his finger under her chin and tilting her  
  
head upward, "you don't have to hold back with me. I understand."  
  
Warning bells were now screaming in his head again; they were much too  
  
close, and this was much too similar to a romantic moment. "But maybe," he  
  
rationalized, "maybe she needs someone closer than a friend right now."  
  
He slapped himself mentally. That was just his overactive imagination  
  
getting the best of him again. He really needed to keep his mind under better  
  
control. But before anything else could happen...  
  
"Mmph!" he let out in surprise as she launched herself onto her toes  
  
and her lips connected with his. It was beyond anything he could have  
  
expected. Both their mouths were closed, but just the feeling of her warm  
  
body against his and her soft lips pressing against him drove all rational  
  
thoughts out of his mind.  
  
He returned her kiss now, and soon they were both wrapped up in  
  
ignorant bliss, unaware of any of their surroundings. Slowly and as one they  
  
staggered over to the couch and sat, contacting each other in every way they  
  
could. Their kissing became more and more feverish as they explored each  
  
other in ways they never thought about before. Suddenly he became aware that  
  
he was on top of her, with his hands clutching both her wrists above her head.  
  
She was breathing in short, ragged gasps and slowly relaxed her body so that  
  
she sunk further into the soft couch.  
  
TK had been waiting for this moment for the last four years of his  
  
life. He looked once again into her eyes. She seemed to give an imperceptible  
  
nod, seemed to say that it was all right.  
  
But he couldn't do it.  
  
The moment that he had been waiting for the last four years of his  
  
life was now within his grasp, and he couldn't do it. All the things that  
  
they had been through. All the precious moments they had shared. Every  
  
single moment he had ever spent with her flashed before his eyes as he looked  
  
at her, frozen to the spot.  
  
This was someone who meant more to him than anything else. And here  
  
he was, about to take advantage of her in her moment of weakness, when she was  
  
most vulnerable, when all she really needed was a friend.  
  
He awkwardly clambered off of her, and she sat up, her eyes filling  
  
with tears yet again.  
  
"Aren't I even good enough for you?" she cried. "Am I so horrible  
  
that even you won't take me?  
  
His heart felt like it had been crushed under a million pound weight.  
  
"No, no that's not it at all," he whispered, pressing his hand to her cheek.  
  
"Believe me Kari, I've dreamed about this for a long time. I've loved you  
  
ever since I was old enough to feel love. But this isn't right. This isn't  
  
what love is." He smiled again. "This is what love means."  
  
For the second time that night, he pressed his lips to hers. This was  
  
not a kiss of passion, it was a kiss that carried with it everything that he  
  
felt and every bit of comfort that he knew how to offer.  
  
They stayed that way for a long time, finally separating after what  
  
seemed like an eternity. Kari once again threw her arms around him and this  
  
time cried herself to sleep.  
  
TK picked her up and carried her over to his mother?s bedroom where he  
  
deposited her on the bed and pulled the blankets over her.  
  
"I love you,? he said softly down to her, his hand lingering on her  
  
shoulder. "I really do."  
  
He left her there, glancing back only once at the door and casting an  
  
eye over her thin frame before shutting the door and going back to his room.  
  
It was very cold in there now, and after closing the window and shutting off  
  
the fan, he clambered into bed.  
  
As waves of sleep and happiness flooded over him, he closed his eyes  
  
and prepared to drift away.  
  
He knew that the dreams would no longer come to him, knew that now they  
  
were now completely meaningless. He had done what was right, he knew it, and  
  
drifting into the dream world, he found her again, his own personal light in  
  
the darkness, and as long as he held her close, nothing would ever be wrong  
  
again. 


End file.
